Thursday, July 21, 2011

What Happens in Vegas...

Well, what happened in Vegas definitely won't stay in Vegas! It was amazing!  The National Differentiated Instruction Conference was energizing, exciting, and exhilarating!  I had a number of my teaching techniques validated by the speakers at the workshops I attended and I learned lots of new ways to bring technology into my teaching.  I have a SmartBoard in my classroom and up until now I have only been using it, in a very basic way, for my math lessons.  I learned how to embed video, music and games into my lessons for not only my math students, but for my theatre students as well!  I couldn't write fast enough to take down all of the information!

Now... Phantom.  All I can say is OMG!  It definitely was spectacular!  The show had us on the edge of our seats and the meet and greet and tour was more than I could have hoped for.  We met with the actor who played the Phantom for about a half hour and he told us lots of amazing stories.  He is such a talented man and has played the role over 2,000 times.  The tour let us in on all of the "magic" that takes place on the stage and we were able to see how they make it all come together.  Let me just say that the chandelier was brilliant! I learned so many things about putting on a major show that by the end of our 2 hour (yes, I said 2 hour!) tour, my head was just spinning!  The most exciting part was being able to stand on the stage and look out into the audience!  I will show you some photos after I get organized and get them off my camera.  All in all it was a wonderful experience.

I'm almost done with my first class...our final paper is due next week.  The next class is all about the "American Musical!"  I'm really looking forward to that!

I can't wait to get back in my classroom and share all of the things I've learned in my classes, at the conference, and at Phantom with my students!

That's all for now!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Lots of Reading...Getting Ready for Vegas!

Last week we read, Our Town, Death of a Salesman, and Loman Family Picnic and I realized what I have been missing by not reading more plays.  I can't believe that I have never read Our Town!  It's so great to be able to see what my classmates' perceptions of the plays are and how they compare to mine.  This is such a blast!

This week we read Streetcar Named Desire and a deconstruction of Streetcar called Belle Reprieve.  To say the least it was very interesting!  Our midterm is to write scene 10 1/2...what happens between the time Stanley and Blanche's unfortunate incident and when Blanche is taken away.  Very interesting!

I'll be on my way to Vegas next week for the Differentiated Instruction Conference and to go backstage at Phantom of the Opera!  Hopefully I'll be able to take some backstage photos!

Have a good one!